Last Monday, RiffTrax started releasing full episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000. They also dubbed it MST3K Mondays, and announced that this would be a regular thing.
Edit: I had started this yesterday, but I was babysitting a sick toddler, so I didn't get to finish it until today. One of the movies on this list was actually released yesterday.
That got me thinking about which episodes I would most like to be able to purchase. This was an exhausting undertaking! There are so many great episodes that were hosted by Joel and Mike. I almost didn't think I would be able to narrow them down to five, but I was able to persevere.
Here is my wishlist for five Joel Hosted episodes that RiffTrax needs to release.
Pod People
And then there's the movies musical number that can be summed up with two words:
Cave Dwellers
My second favorite of the Joel episodes, Cave Dwellers, was one of those wonderful releases that had scenes from a different movie as the opening credits (Pod People does the same thing).
Cave Dwellers is the second in a series of movies made purely to capitalize on the success of Conan the Barbarian. They totally pale in comparison, of course, but that makes this movie perfect fodder for riffing. I mean, the main character makes a modern hang glider to drop bombs on the enemy castle.
Mitchell
I had a big long thing typed out here pleading my case for Mitchell, and what do they do? Release it yesterday.
Anyway, this was the final Joel episode, and one of the funniest that he hosted.
Gamera Vs. Guiron
Gamera is really neat! Gamera is made of meat! We've been eating Gamera!
Gamera is a giant flying turtle who stars in a series of movies akin to Godzilla. Gamera flies by pulling in his rear legs and shooting out flames from the leg holes. Just let that sink in for a bit.
This wasn't the first Gamera movie that they did on the show, but it is my favorite by far.
Mighty Jack
The movie cobbled together from the first and sixth episode of a Japanese TV series. How do you explain this, you might ask? The answer is simple: Sandy Frank. Sandy Frank would buy any Japanese show or movie he could get his hands on and then repurpose it for release in the United States.
Eleven of them ended up on MST3K, like the previously mentioned Gamera films. That is probably the greatest thing Sandy Frank has contributed to the planet.
Later this week, I will be bringing you my wishlist of top five Mike hosted episodes.
Stay Tuned!